Firearm

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Firearm
Type:	Weapon
Place of origin:	Humans on Earth

Firearm, commonly known as a "gun" was a term encompassing a variety of weapons which used a projectile fired from the weapon relying on chemical explosives to propel the projectile at high velocities from the firearm. They were typically used to penetrate surfaces to maim or kill and were usually human in origin.

General Description

Weapons that fell into the 'firearm' category included:

• Handguns (pistols or revolvers) designed to be usable one-handed.
• Rifles used a cartridge distinct from pistols The name refers to rifling (spiralled groves inside the barrel) which caused the projectile to rotate in flight, stabilising the trajectory.
• Shotguns used shells that usually contain a number of small projectiles from a typical smooth-bore rather than rifled barrel.
• Machine guns were usually mounted weapons designed to sustained long periods of fire. Some variations were designed to be carried around like rifles, e.g. Light machine guns.
• Sub-machine guns. Automatic or selective fire weapons that fired pistol rounds.
• Personal Defence Weapons were a difficult to define set, using a cartridge halfway between pistol and rifle, small calibre, pointed bullet on a small propellant charge for a muzzle velocity close to a slower rifle. Intended for better armour penetration than regular SMGs. As of 2010, only three designs existed in production, each using a different cartridge.

This list has been simplified as the basic design allows for a wide range of variations.

Firearms were also sometimes classified by their loading mechanism. A single shot weapon such as a shotgun or musket was reloaded after each firing, while a semi-automatic weapon was reloaded mechanically after each shot, but only discharged once with each trigger pull. An automatic weapon was reloaded and fired continuously as long as the trigger was held down and it had ready ammunition.

Often, these two systems of classification are used in tandem, e.g. semi-automatic pistol or automatic rifle. In this way, both the loading mechanism and the configuration of the firearm are described.

Two main kinds of ammunition exist for basic firearms: pistol and rifle. Pistol rounds mainly used a large calibre, round-fronted bullet with a small amount of propellant, while rifles used a narrower, longer bullet with a high propellant load.

A common military weapon, used by armed forces such as UNIT, was the assault rifle. It was a magazine-fed, selective fire firearm with a rifled barrel.

Pistols typically were used as a more defensive weapon, to counter or discourage a personal attack, or as a back-up to a larger weapon. While primitive pistols were single-shot weapons, most carried by humans after the 19th century were semi-automatic weapons of either a revolver or magazine-fed design. Fully automatic pistols existed, but were not as common due to cost of production, failure rate, and ammunition consumption. The advantages of a pistol came from its small size; it was easily portable and concealable, making it suited for use by organizations such as Torchwood, whose agents often did not wish to advertise that they were armed, or may have needed to have a weapon with them at all times. Its disadvantages were its relatively low ammunition capacity and lack of accuracy, power or range compared to larger weapons. It was also military tradition that officers used handarms as their primary weapon, as they were expected to be in the midst of the fighting.

Shotguns and more primitive forms of rifle were often used by hunters (DW: Pyramids of Mars), and could be pressed into service as combat weapons, but were generally less effective than weapons intended for military or self-defense.

Most firearms were ineffective against armored races such as Daleks and Cybermen, (DW: Army of Ghosts/Doomsday) though specifically designed bullets were produced to take advantage of alien races' weaknesses (Gold in the Cybermen's case). (DW: Battlefield) Standard bullets were effective though against biological species similar to humans, such as the Ood, (DW: Planet of the Ood) and Sontarans. (DW: The Poison Sky)

Firearms, as a relatively primitive technology, could be neutralized by more advanced technology. For example, Sontaran soldiers employed a cordolaine field that affects certain metals such as copper, causing weapons using copper casings on their projectiles not to fire. (DW: The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky)

Technological improvements such as the Bastic bullet could make firearms more effective, a viable weapon even against a Dalek. (DW: Revelation of the Daleks, The Parting of the Ways)

One practical limit on the use of firearms is that they were usually lethal. While it was possible to use a firearm to incapacitate rather than kill, this could be done only by inflicting serious injury and pain. While there were forms of ammunition known as "less than lethal" intended for incapacitation, such as rubber bullets, they still inflicted great pain, and were lethal under certain circumstances. For this reason, individuals such as the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith refused to use them on moral grounds. (DW: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End)

Despite their limitations, humans were known to use firearms well into the 2001st century and beyond. (DW: The Parting of the Ways, Utopia)

An appreciation of the usefulness of firearms was not limited to humanity. Upon landing on the planet Exxilon a Dalek taskforce's weapons were rendered inoperable, forcing them to replace their energy weapons with semi-automatic ballistic weapons. (DW: Death to the Daleks)

Bolt-Action Rifle use

John Andrews with a rifle. (DW: Carnival of Monsters)

• John Andrews used a Lee-Enfield when he chased the Third Doctor and Jo around the deck; it was a result of Vorg having changed the specimens' personality to violence. (DW: Carnival of Monsters).

Shot Gun use

• In the fourth and final segment of serial #94, The Fourth Doctor used a double barrel shot gun against a Fendahleen making its first appearance on screen. As the Fendahleen moved down the hall, Leela and The Tylers could not move. The Doctor fired both rounds, stopping the Fendahleen. Only after he fired did he note to himself that the gun was loaded with rock salt. (DW: Image of the Fendahl)

Assault Rifle use

• Weapons resembling M4 Carbines with Beta C-mag drum magazines were used to shoot and subdue the Ood on the Ood Sphere. (DW: Planet of the Ood)
• The army and UNIT used H&K G36 assault rifles against the Sontarans, Daleks and the Cybermen. They were completely ineffective against the last two. (DW: Army of Ghosts/Doomsday, The Poison Sky, The Stolen Earth/Journey's End)
• Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones used assault rifles to combat a Dalek in the Torchwood Hub. (DW: The Stolen Earth)
• The Master's private armed teams fired on the Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones and Jack Harkness with assault rifles. (DW: The Sound of Drums)
• Captain Jack led a squad of men to shoot the Toclafane with assault rifles. He also destroyed the Paradox Machine by shooting it with one. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)
• The Preachers used a number of automatic weapons to fight the Cybermen, notably the Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle. (DW: Rise of the Cybermen)
• Miss Foster's guards were armed with assault rifles. (DW: Partners in Crime)
• The security guards in the International Gallery and the police units waiting to arrest Christina de Souza at the end of the tunnel were armed with Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifles. (DW: Planet of the Dead)
• UNIT successfully battled three of the Swarm with Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifles and M4 carbines, although anti-aircraft batteries served a key role in finishing the creatures off. (DW: Planet of the Dead)
• Joshua Naismith's private guards were armed with M4 Carbine Assault Rifles, which they employed to put suppressing fire on the Tenth Doctor. (DW: The End of Time)
• British Army soldiers were seen armed with L85 assault rifles at the Albion Hospital and in Downing Street. (DW: Aliens of London/World War Three) In all other appearances, British Soldiers were armed with G36s.
• US Air Force personnel guarding the Eleventh Doctor at Area 51 were armed with GAU-5A/A Assault Rifles. (DW:Day of the Moon)

Handgun use

File:Rattigan with a gun.jpg

Luke Rattigan threatening members of the Rattigan Academy with a handgun. (DW: The Poison Sky)

• Two fake police were in possesion of handguns equipped with silencers. (DW: Attack of the Cybermen)
• Gustave Lytton gave a handgun to Payne. The Sixth Doctor took it after his death and Russell took it when he arrested the Doctor. (DW: Attack of the Cybermen)
• Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and members of UNIT threatened the Master with handguns. (DW: The Claws of Axos)
• The Lorduke of Zazz threatened Frobisher with a handgun. (DWM: The Gift)
• When the lone Dalek escaped The Vault, the security guards used pistols against it, to no effect. (DW: Dalek)
• Jo Grant brandished a revolver when tracing the Master to Devil's End. (DW: The Dæmons)
• When Suki Macrae Cantrell was promoted to Floor 500, she pulled a modified Smith & Wesson Model 669 pistol on the Editor. She fired the pistol at the Jagrafess, to no effect. (DW: The Long Game)
• Jack Harkness used a 21st century era pistol against the Daleks invading the Game Station, probably a Beretta 92FS. (DW: The Parting of the Ways)
• Queen Victoria carried a small Webley Bulldog revolver in her bag for her protection. She shot Father Angelo with it. (DW: Tooth and Claw)

File:At gunpoint.jpg

Frobisher is threatened by the Lorduke of Zazz. (DWM: The Gift)

• Maximillian Stael commited suicide with a handgun given to him by the Fourth Doctor at his behest. He did this to avert the Fendahl from using him as a power source. (DW: Image of the Fendahl)
• Jake Simmonds and Mrs. Moore pulled pistols (a SIG-Sauer P226 and a Beretta 92FS) on Mickey Smith when they found out he wasn't Ricky Smith. (DW: Rise of the Cybermen)
• Tallulah had a prop Webley Mk VI to scare the Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones and Solomon. (DW: Daleks in Manhattan)
• The Master's henchmen pulled out pistols (Glock 17s) to everyone witnessing when the Toclafane killed President Winters. (DW: The Sound of Drums)
• Thomas Milligan used a Heckler & Koch USP to lure a Toclafane to the trap set up by Alison Docherty. Lucy Saxon used a Glock 17 to kill the Master. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)
• Jack Harkness carried a Webley Mark IV revolver while in service with Torchwood, despite the rest of his team carrying more modern semi-automatics. The Webley Mark IV in .38 calibre, rather than the more famous .455, was a British Army sidearm during World War II and afterwards. (TW: Everything Changes)
• General Cobb intended to shoot the Tenth Doctor with a Webley Mk VI but Jenny got in the way. The Doctor later almost shot Cobb as revenge for killing his daughter. (DW: The Doctor's Daughter)
• Colonel Mace shot Commander Skorr with a SIG P226. (DW: The Poison Sky)
• General Sanchez attempted to repel the invading Dalek with a stainless Ruger GP100. (DW: The Stolen Earth)
• John Jefferson shot an Ood with a Glock 17. He only fired one shot. Probably the magazine hadn't been loaded properly, or the gun jammed. (DW: The Satan Pit)
• The Fourth Doctor took Scorby's handgun and used it to retreat in safety. He told Sarah he'd never use it but they didn't know that. (DW: The Seeds of Doom)

The Fourth Doctor retreats, covering himself with a handgun. (DW: The Seeds of Doom)

• Captain Erisa Magambo threatened Malcolm Taylor with a Walther P99 pistol, and later used it to defend against three of the Swarm. (DW: Planet of the Dead)
• Wilfred Mott took his old Webley Mk IV service revolver with him when he sought out the Tenth Doctor. He later gave it to the Doctor, who took it to use against the Master. The Doctor had to choose between shooting the Master or Rassilon, but finally chose to shoot the nuclear bolt, destroying it and breaking the link that anchored the Time Lords in the present time, sending them back into the Time War and saving the universe. (DW: The End of Time)
• The Fifth Doctor used a handgun against a Dalek mutant that had escaped from its damaged armour. He decided that he needed to kill Davros but when the moment came he couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger. (DW: Resurrection of the Daleks)
• The Sixth Doctor used an automatic pistol against a Dalek's eye stalk. (DW: Revelation of the Daleks)
• The Eleventh Doctor fired a handgun (possibly a SIG-Sauer P225) to destroy a Gravity globe. (DW: The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone)
• Amy Pond used Canton Delaware's handgun on a little girl in an astronaut suit, not knowing she was her daughter Melody, in an attempt to save the Eleventh Doctor. (DW: The Impossible Astronaut, Let's Kill Hitler)

Machine gun, Submachine gun and PDW use

Thawn and Fenner with machine guns. (DW: The Power of Kroll)

• Inside the Miniscope, the crew of the SS Bernice used submachine guns against the Drashigs to no avail. (DW: Carnival of Monsters)
• Gustave Lytton had a silenced submachine gun. (DW: Attack of the Cybermen)
• Mounted machine guns were used to shoot the Scarecrow Drones when they attacked the Farringham School for Boys. They trained with these in the school grounds. (DW: The Family of Blood)
• Harrison Chase's guards all carried submachine guns. (DW: The Seeds of Doom)
• The crew of a Delta III refinery had two machine guns. (DW: The Power of Kroll)
• On Malcassairo, the guards repelled the Futurekind with machine guns. (DW: Utopia)
• During the Hath-human war on Messaline, the humans used a weapon resembling an FN P90. (DW: The Doctor's Daughter)

Behind the scenes

• Most firearms used in the 2005 series, are of Heckler & Koch manufacture, specificaly G36 assault rifles and USP sidearms. Glocks and Webleys have also been used.
• The guns carried by Sanctuary Base 6 security in DW: The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit are P90 Personal Defense Weapons fitted with suppressors (the same model of weapon commonly associated with Stargate SG-1 universe).
• In the various UNIT episodes during the Jon Pertwee era, Sterling sub-machine guns or SLRs were used.

See also

• Dalek enhanced Tommy Gun
• Bastic bullet
• Energy weapon
• IMFDB article on the 2005 Series